The invention herein pertains to a landing gear or stabilizer for a single-axle trailer typically pulled by a passenger car, light truck or all-purpose purpose military vehicle such as the U.S. Army's High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). These trailers commonly haul a variety of small loads, such as snowmobiles, camping equipment, household goods or the military cargo normally carried by the U.S. Army's XM1071 cargo trailer. When these trailers are unhitched from the two vehicle to free it for non-towing duties, they are frequently supported in their horizontal, free standing positions by retractable legs or feet connected to the front of the trailer.
Single-axle trailers constructed with only a frontal support leg have a problem which occurs when loading or unloading them. A person entering the rear of a trailer to place or remove cargo therein will quite possibly tip the rear of the trailer downward, potentially injuring the person and cargo in the trailer. Additionally, at all times during loading or unloading of the trailer, care must be taken to avoid greater weight at the rear of the trailer than at the front thereof, whereby loading or unloading the trailer may be difficult or inconvenient.
My invention addresses and solves the problems described above. My invention comprises stabilizers at the rear corners of the trailer, each stabilizer being a leg-and-foot assembly for supporting the trailer. The stabilizers can be independently vertically repositioned to adjust the height of their ground engaging feet, whereby the stabilizers can support the trailer on uneven ground. The stabilizers are of space conserving construction which neither increases the space envelope occupied by the trailer nor intrudes into the trailer's cargo space. Additionally, the stabilizers can be used in conjunction with the retractable/extendable front support legs of the trailer to lift the trailer's wheels off the ground in order, for example, to replace a flat tire.